Amidst lockdown,  Owerri passengers pay N15,000, as security nabs Abuja night bus

By Ezurike Ugochukwu

In the  face of the recently pronounced lockdown in the country on account of the coronavirus pandemic, some transport companies have chosen to explore night travels for brisk business, as they charge passengers as much as N15,000 from Lagos to Owerri.

According to the Executive Director, Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC), Comrade Okechukwu Nwanguma, he wonders  why some transport companies would defy the lockdown and no-movement-order of the government to embark on inter-state night journeys.

He decried a situation the police officers on the inter-state routes who are given express directive to enforce the lockdown order and prevent such outlawed dangerous movements which are no doubt, are  veritable means of further spread of this virus across states,  preferred to take bribe from the defaulting commercial drivers and allow them to embark on the journey.

Nwanguma said, “An example is a Libra Motors bus carrying passengers which departed from Cele terminal in Lagos on the night of Friday, 10th  April  and arrived Owerri the next day- Saturday. Each passenger was charged fifteen thousand Naira.

“The driver simply stretched out his hands and handed the police officers money at each check point and was allowed to continue.

“These intransigent Nigerians, including the transport companies’ management and their passengers are sabotaging the efforts of the state and federal governments to contain the further spread of the virus. The transport companies choose to make brisk money and expose other law abiding Nigerian citizens and residents to the risk of infection and wider spread of the ravaging disease. Police officers, who ought to enforce the no-movement order instead also exploits the opportunity to make their own money.”

He retreated the need to identify the management of the transport companies, their drivers and passengers and place them in isolation for necessary checks,  even as he called on police authorities to identify the officers involved and ensure that they are dealt with appropriately.

In the same vain, hundreds of desperate passengers were over the weekend arrested at Amansea, Awka, Anambra State, as they were trying to cross Anambra borders on their way to Abuja.

The arrest was carried out from 11pm to 2am, according to one Stephen Anigbogu, of the Anambra state Ministry of Transport, the culprits were however moved to B Division of the Nigeria Police Force in Awka, some of the buses were said to have taken off from Abuja park in Onitsha,

Anambra Social Restriction Order Taskforce at Amansea

Aniagbogu said, “Yesterday, at about 11:35pm, the Commissioner for Transport, Christian Madubuko, received distress calls from the social restriction order task force stationed at Amansea, a town bordering Anambra and Enugu states.

“On getting there with his team, he met luxury buses, Sienna buses etc, all loaded with passengers going to Abuja, Nassarawa etc, trying to pass the border to Enugu state.

“On enquiry, the team discovered some of the buses loaded in Asaba, crossed the Onitsha head -bridge, and were about crossing Amansea borders when they were apprehended.”

In his statement, the Commissioner said the directive of the governor insisting on keeping the borders closed for two weeks must be strictly  adhered to, “There is need for everybody to take this fight very serious. The only avenue of bringing this disease to Anambra is through inter-state transportation.

“We want everybody stationed in our borders to be very serious in this fight. We apprehended loaded luxury buses and other vehicles trying to cross Amansea borders. Some of them loaded in Asaba, Delta State, while others loaded at Onitsha. They have been detained and will face the law. Anambra is a delicate state for coronavirus. We have many aged people here, so we must take the directives of Governor Willie Obiano on containment of the spread of coronavirus seriously,” he said.

He frowned at the unpatriotic display of some police officers station at the various checkpoints whose only interest was to  stretch out their hands to collect money from the drivers, whom without their connivance, such movements wouldn’t have been possible.